Egypt Today magazine, October issue 2015, Article
by Dominika Maslikowski.
They may not be the most well-known or established on the local art scene, but they are talented and influential Egyptian artists you should know about.
We’ve asked Art Egypt, an Instagram account dedicated to promoting the country’s fine art, to list their top choices for original and expressive artists to watch now. Art Egypt, which has some 3,000 followers, boasts the largest database of young artists in Egypt (whether they work as painters, photographers, illustrators or with mixed media) and is run by a team of three artists and journalists.
Mina Nasr
Nasr’s art deals with changes in Egyptian society, tackling issues of culture, community, politics and the problems of daily life. Alternating forces are often at play in his images, such as power and control confronted by freedom and liberty.Nasr’s work includes drawing, computer graphics and installations.
The drawing shown here (pastel and pencil on paper) is inspired by the theft of Egyptian antiquities and their sale abroad, says Nasr.
The statue of Sekhemka and other old Pharaonic works have been stolen and sold at a very low price then shipped outside Egypt to decorate European museums and rich people’s homes, Nasr says.
“Thousands and thousands of antiquities that present the history of Pharaonic Egypt were smuggled outside of Egypt. The Egyptian government failed to return them,” Nasr says. “In my project, I’m trying to explain the relation between the painful Egyptian reality and the past, how our ancient history was sold and smuggled in a plastic bag and a piece of paper or other means, and hand-delivered to the outside world … I’m trying to imagine the disregard of our history and the people who sold it. This makes you rethink the value of what we have lost as Egyptians and the fact that it is already too late to realize the naked, painful truth.
“In the drawing, a statue of one of the six daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti is shown in a plastic bag with a label from the Kheir Zamam (Goods of the Past) grocery store.